UVU baseball: Wolverines head to New York for final road swing against NYIT

OREM — Utah Valley University, ranked No. 27 by Collegiate Baseball, makes its final road swing of the 2012 regular season when it visits Old Westbury, New York, for a four-game Great West Conference series with NYIT.

Game 1 gets underway Friday at 1 p.m.

Friday's series-opener and Sunday's series finale can be heard locally on 960-AM The Zone, while live audio for all the weekend's action, including Saturday's doubleheader, can be found at WolverineGreen.com.

The Wolverines (35-11, 20-0 GWC) took all four games last weekend at Houston Baptist, pushing their win streak to 28 games. UVU needed a late rally to keep the streak alive on Sunday as it trailed 3-1 heading into the eighth inning. But five runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth gave the Wolverines an 8-6 win and preserved the nation's longest winning streak.

UVU had an eventful week from there, garnering national attention and individual accolades. On Monday, the Wolverines entered national rankings for the first time in program history when Collegiate Baseball ranked UVU No. 27 in its weekly poll. The Wolverines also received Top 25 votes in the National College Baseball Writers Association and USA Today/ESPN Coaches' polls.

Goose Kallunki — who leads the country in RBIs (72), ranks seventh in batting average (.419) and ninth in home runs (15) — was named a "Louisville Slugger" National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baesball for the second time this season after going 10 for 19 with three home runs in the HBU series.

The NCBWA also named Kallunki the National Hitter of the Week while College Baseball Insider declared him the West Region Player of the Week.

Looking forward, NYIT (5-36, 3-17 GWC) sits at the bottom of the GWC standings after dropping three of four to North Dakota last weekend.

UVU's magic number to clinch its third straight GWC regular season crown sits at just one, as the Wolverines currently hold first place by seven games.

This weekend's series kicks off a busy stretch for UVU as it will play nine games in the next nine days. Following NYIT, the Wolverines return home for a midweek game against Utah next Tuesday and then conclude the regular season with a four-game home series against Northern Colorado.

Clint Burgi is the assistant athletic director for sports information at Utah Valley University. For more information on Wolverine athletics, visit http://www.WolverineGreen.com